Where will Lafayette senior running back Ross Scheuerman rank all-time in the school's history?

Ross Scheuerman ran for two touchdowns in his first full preseason football scrimmage at Lafayette in August 2011.

That didn't surprise Leopards coach Frank Tavani.

"The freshman running back was outstanding," Tavani said. "He showed strength, speed, vision and he's falling forward all the time. He's going to play a role in the rotation, for sure."

So, on the third series of Lafayette's opening game, before a crowd of 18,000 screaming North Dakota State University fans in the Fargodome, Scheuerman, the rookie from Creamridge, N.J., population about 3,000, trotted onto the field.

"I was in the opening script and I was real nervous and scared [before the game]." Scheuerman said this week as he remembered that first game. "It was a reverse play designed for me and I was lined up in the slot. I remember shaking a little bit standing on the line. It didn't go for much, maybe a yard, or it probably lost a couple yards."

Actually, the play lost four yards and was nothing more than a blip in the grand scheme of things as NDSU whipped Lafayette 42-6.

But Scheuerman ran the ball on four of the Leopards' last five plays of that game — mop-up time against Bison reserves — and gained 5, 24, 11 and 7 yards. Those carries made him Lafayette's top rusher in the game and "made me realize I could play at this level," he said. "That carried me through the rest of the season."

Scheuerman, an Allentown High School graduate — that's Allentown, N.J., though — broke into the starting lineup in the third game of that 2011 season. He has not started every game, but he has fought through a number of injuries and played in every game of his career.

That means when Lafayette faces Lehigh at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Yankee Stadium in the 150th game in The Rivalry, he will make his 45th and final appearance as a Leopard.

"It's pretty wild; it hasn't all hit me yet," he said this week. "I'm just trying to take everything in this week and enjoy it as much as possible. It's going to be pretty emotional come Saturday, but I'm going to have as much fun as I can and I can tell you, I know I'm going to leave every piece of me out on that field."

No one who has watched him over the past four seasons would expect any less from Scheuerman, who wrestled as a 171-pounder during his senior year in high school, came to Lafayette at 190 pounds and is close to 210 for his final game.

Final college game, that is. Every team in the National Football League has passed through Easton this fall — some of them multiple times — to learn more about Scheuerman.

He's already been invited to participate in the NFLPA's all-star game in mid-January in Los Angeles, which means some people think he has what it takes to play on Sundays in the future — even if he sometimes seems under the radar when it comes to selecting the best of the Patriot League.

Maybe it's because he's more than a running back with 4.3-second speed in the 40-yard dash. He's more than a receiver. He's more than a kick returner. He's a 3-in-1 offensive package. A special one.

He has never been a first-team all-Patriot League selection, even after 2013, when he racked up 1,902 all-purpose yards as Lafayette won the league championship, but he shrugged that off.

"Yeah, last year was like, what the heck, but that's just people's opinions, coaches' opinions," Scheuerman said. "It doesn't matter to me. I've gotten myself to where I want to be in terms of my future with football. I can prove all those people wrong by being successful."

Scheuerman has been playing football since the fourth grade, always as a running back — but also as a defensive end his first year. Wrestling became a second love in high school, and he was being recruited by Division I schools in that sport before he decided that "ultimately, I got over the whole cutting-weight situation [for wrestling] and I had such a passion for football I knew I had more of a future as a football player."

Good choice.

In four years at Lafayette, he has rushed for 3,200 yards (fourth all-time), scored 28 touchdowns rushing (tied for fifth), caught 126 passes for 1,144 yards and eight TDs and returned 72 kickoffs for 1,645 yards and three TDs. His return numbers are skewed by the fact that a gimpy ankle limited his return time this year. He has only four.

He is just 11 yards shy of 6,000 all-purpose yards for his career, and Tavani said recently, "If I have to put the ball in his hands 60 times, you're going to see it" against Lehigh. When that was mentioned to Scheuerman, he said, "I'm ready for anything they throw at me."

Retired sports columnist Paul Reinhard is a freelance writer.

THE SCHEUERMAN FILE

WHO: Ross Scheuerman, 6-1, 209-pound senior running back.

BORN: March 5, 1993.

HOMETOWN: Creamridge, N.J.

MOTHER: Jan Cote: "I can talk about my mom all day … my biggest supporter, biggest fan, biggest critic … I would never be where I am today without her."

SIBLING: Sister, Rachael.

HIGH SCHOOL: Allentown (N.J.).

COLLEGE MAJOR: Economics, 3.4 GPA last semester.

FOOTBALL HONORS: Patriot League rookie of the year, 2011; all-Patriot League second team, 2011, 2012, 2013; 3-time team offensive back MVP;